This morning I had the blessing of sharing a conversation with Mike Whitenton. Mike is a wicked smart Ph.D. student at Baylor in New Testament theology whose affinity for the Church is inspiring.

Part of our conversation dealt with varying models of Church. For us, it boiled down to a core essential: we have to receive the Church. We cannot make the Church in our own image.

This may be an uncomfortable truth. Sometimes binding ourselves to a tradition like the Church means that we’ll get slammed. It’s like an unprotected wide receiver getting jacked when he goes up for a pass.

Think of Braylon Edwards (who in the picture is about to get punished): we have to extend ourselves upwards to God in order to receive our Church tradition. This exposes us to the vagaries and vices of the world and those who wish to make a Church of their own. And sometimes we get crushed.

But if we do our job correctly, if we truly receive the tradition that has been handed down to us, we shouldn’t care if we are the object of a bone-crunching tackle. Because we have the ball.

The Christian tradition has been passed on to us. Now it’s our job to make it to the end zone.